FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Daphne Reitz, 816-523-4640, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The Lupus Foundation of America, Heartland Chapter (Heartland Chapter) is pleased to announce the grand reopening of their administrative operations in Kansas City, Missouri. The Heartland Chapter incorporated the greater Kansas City area into their chapter territory in 2010 and recently hired a staff member and reopened their office in the Research Medical Center Doctors Building at 6400 Prospect Avenue West.

The Heartland Chapter developed a five-year strategic plan last year with a focus on greatly expanding programs and services to individuals affected by lupus throughout Missouri, eastern Kansas and southern Illinois. The first phase of this outreach is the greater Kansas City area. Daphne Reitz has been hired as the Heartland Chapter’s Community Outreach Coordinator and will be responsible for expanding awareness, community involvement, educational programming and fundraising. She will coordinate the successful Walk to End Lupus Now ™ on September 13, 2014 at Shawnee Mission Park and support other fundraising efforts.

To celebrate the expansion of the Heartland Chapter into the Kansas City area, the organization is hosting a Grand Reopening Celebration on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Saint Joseph Medical Center, Community Center for Health & Education, Abell and Lorenz Rooms, 1000 Carondelet Drive, Kansas City, MO 64114. The celebration provides a great opportunity for people affected by lupus and those who are interested in supporting the mission to meet the Heartland staff, Board Chair Kevin Cheung, and learn more about expansion plans. Light refreshments will be served. This is a free event but registration is requested by calling 816-523-4640, 800-958-7876 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

About Lupus
Lupus is an unpredictable and misunderstood autoimmune disease that ravages different parts of the body. It is difficult to diagnose, hard to live with, and a challenge to treat. Lupus is a cruel mystery because it is hidden from view and undefined, has a range of symptoms, hits out of nowhere, and has no known cause and no known cure. Its health effects can range from a skin rash to a heart attack. Lupus is debilitating and destructive and can be fatal, yet research on lupus remains underfunded relative to its scope and devastation.

About the Lupus Foundation of America, Heartland Chapter
The Lupus Foundation of America, Heartland Chapter is part of a national force devoted to solving the cruel mystery of lupus while providing caring support to those who suffer from its brutal impact. We work with local health professionals and volunteers to provide information and programs to ensure people with lupus and their families get answers and health professionals know about new means to diagnose and manage the disease. With the help of informed volunteers and committed supporters, we conduct activities to increase awareness of lupus, we rally support for those who are affected by lupus and advocate on their behalf, and we raise money to support research and education programs so everyone affected by lupus can have an improved quality of life.